BEEF LIVER LIKE FLAVOR: STUDY ABOUT POSSIBLE CAUSE AND CONSEQUENCES ON MEAT QUALITY ATTRIBUTES

Abstract

Meat flavor is a complex attribute of palatability and it is a combination of basic tastes, which are derived from water soluble compounds and odor derived from a mixture of substances. Therefore it is important to understand what are the effects of cattle breed type, diet, post-slaughter processing techniques, and cooking methods on the components of flavor. The technique of cattle confinement (feedlot) for beef production is one of the most widely used techniques in the production chain of beef, however it may be associated with the development of negative changes in beef flavor, which in some cases is characterized by liver flavor (liver like flavor). In Brazil there are few studies that have evaluated the effect of the feeding system in flavor characteristics, and some authors suggested that the possible causes of the problem may be associated with the use of cottonseed in the diet of the cattle. For this reason, the objective of this research is to evaluate, for different sensory methods, the presence of off-flavors in meat, with emphasis on liver like flavor, of different commercial cuts, produced by animals raised in different production systems.